President Barack Obama is calling upon Americans to “dedicate ourselves to increasing information literacy awareness so that all citizens understand its vital importance.”
In doing so, he signed a proclamation that extols the fundamental objectives shared by the News Literacy Project and other news literacy efforts nationwide.
“An informed and educated citizenry is essential to the functioning of our modern democratic society,” the president said in the proclamation, dated Oct. 1. “I encourage educational and community institutions across the country to help Americans find and...
NBC News has joined the News Literacy Project as a participating news organization, becoming the third major television network to enroll in the national effort to help middle school and high school students discern fact from fiction in the digital age.
“The mission of the News Literacy Project is admirable and incredibly timely,” said NBC News President Steve Capus. “We are happy to be part of the program, and to help students navigate what has become a very crowded landscape. It’s more important than ever to be able to differentiate and identify credible sources of news and...
The Los Angeles Times has joined the News Literacy Project as a participating news organization, becoming the first West Coast outlet to enroll in the effort to give middle school and high school students the critical thinking skills to sort faction from fiction in the digital age. The project aspires to expand to schools in Los Angeles in 2010.
“The Los Angeles Times is delighted to join with the News Literacy Project as it comes to Southern California,” said Jim Newton, editor-at-large.
“Critical thinking is the essence of news reporting, and it stands at the heart of an informed...
The News Literacy Project is the focus of a 4,300-word cover story on news literacy published in the July/August issue of the Columbia Journalism Review. The report, "Leap of Faith," opens with the initial visit of an NLP journalist fellow, David Gonzalez of The New York Times, to a classroom at Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School in Brooklyn, N.Y. It discusses NLP in the context of an emerging news literacy effort that writer Megan Garber says "has the potential to transform itself from the cause of a committed few into a powerful national movement." Amid journalism’s current crisis,...
The Associated Press has joined the News Literacy Project as a participating news organization, becoming the first wire service to enlist in the effort to help middle school and high school students become smarter and more frequent consumers and creators of credible information.
“It is vital for journalism, and for democracy, that young people acquire the skills and savvy to identify credible news and information amid an ever-expanding sea of opinions, voices and agendas,” said Michael Oreskes, senior managing editor of the AP. “This is especially important in this period of economic...
A mini-documentary created by middle school students in the News Literacy Project’s first after-school program is now available on our YouTube channel.
The five-minute video, “East Harlem IS,” depicting changes in the students’ neighborhood, was the culmination of an 11-week apprenticeship for a dozen students at STARS Prep Academy MS45 in East Harlem. The students learned about journalism and news literacy, along with how to write a script, use a camera and sound equipment, conduct interviews and edit video.
Five New York Times journalists and former CNN financial editor Myron...
The American Society of News Editors (ASNE) supervises the High School Journalism Initiative, the largest online host of teen journalism. The site displays students’ reports, photos, podcasts and video journalism and offers training and teaching materials.
Student Reporting Labs connect students with a network of public broadcasting mentors, an innovative journalism curriculum and an online collaborative space to develop digital media, critical thinking and communication skills while producing original news reports for PBS NewsHour Extra.
The Poynter Institute’s News University is an online journalism training program that offers 65 courses as diverse as writing and reporting techniques, multimedia story-telling and ethics. The site also provides access to the Newseum’s “Be a Reporter” and “Be an Editor” games.
The foundation's High School Broadcast Journalism Project helps students become broadcast journalists by offering programs and activities that fund, support and advocate electronic journalism education nationwide.
The network produces a daily 10-minute commercial-free newscast available to teachers and students throughout the school day. It also provides news quizzes, learning activities, fact sheets and commercial-free editions of in-depth reports by CNN’s Special Investigations Unit.
The Newseum, in Washington, D.C., is an interactive museum that combines information about the history of journalism with the latest digital technology and games, allowing visitors to experience what it’s like to be a reporter or make challenging ethical decisions.
Media Literacy Clearinghouse is a website developed by Frank W. Baker, a former broadcast journalist and media literacy instructor. It provides tools and information for educators who want to learn more about media literacy and integrate the topic into the classroom.
Investigative Reporters and Editors, or IRE, was founded more than 30 years ago by a small group of reporters who wanted to share reporting and writing tips. Now based at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, it is dedicated to improving the quality of investigative reporting. It has created a forum in which journalists worldwide share story ideas, newsgathering techniques and sources
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, non-profit organization based in New York City that promotes press freedom worldwide and defends the rights of journalists. Its site includes detailed information and case studies about journalists and media workers who have been abducted, attacked, imprisoned or killed.
The Committee of Concerned Journalists is a consortium of journalists, publishers, newspaper owners and academics. One of its aims is to create a national conversation about the principles that distinguish journalism.
The Columbia Journalism Review’s mission is “to encourage and stimulate excellence in journalism in the service of a free society.” Founded in 1961 under the auspices of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, the magazine examines the news media’s performance. Its website delivers timely criticism and reporting.
FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, monitors the factual accuracy of statements by major U.S. political figures in television ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.
The New York Times' Learning Network is a free site for teachers, students and parents and includes content for grades 3-12. Each weekday the Learning Network offers new interactive activities, such as lesson plans, news summaries and quizzes, based on the reports in that week's New York Times.
The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect was written by former journalists Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel. It is taught in journalism schools nationwide and has been published in 38 languages.
Newsthinking, by Bob Baker, a writing consultant and former Los Angeles Times reporter and editor, focuses on mental organization for journalists. Baker is also the proprietor of the website Newsthinking.com.
